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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Rebecca, Day 52 (catching up!)

52: Make a Most Important Tasks (MITs) list each day. Set just 3 very important things you want to accomplish each day. Don’t start with a long list of things you probably won’t get done by the end of the day. A simple list of 3 things, ones that would make you feel like you accomplished something.

I am a big fan of to-do lists. I've always got a running list of tasks I need to accomplish. For about a year, I used a GTD Moleskine Hack and liked it; then, when I found myself the owner of an iPhone (thanks, honey!) and therefore an always-connected calendar app, carrying a Moleskine somehow became less appealing. And I switched to a single sheet of paper, labeled TO DO, that I'd hang onto for a week (or more, or less) at a time.

One of the advantages of the Moleskine hack was its organization. On my single sheet of paper, I tried to maintain similar categories, and I'd list tasks in different categories ("phone calls," "emails to send," "errands," etc.). It functioned, but inelegantly.

Last week, I tried the "MITs" system described above, writing at the start of the week a to-do list organized by day. Dividing the tasks I had to do according to day helped me ensure time-sensitive items got done earlier in the week. In a couple of important cases, I subdivided by time of day (e.g., "Wed. a.m." vs. "Wed p.m."), according to timing needs.

Verdict: This worked well! I could maintain my routine of jotting down everything I wanted to do in a week, but essentially saved time on a daily basis by having my main priorities for each specific day listed. No thinking "Hm, what should I do next?" -- just "Ah, okay, I'll do that next."

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I'm a writer and editor living on Massachusetts' North Shore with my little family of three (that's including me), and I try to keep our lives relatively simple, as compared to the traditional "American Dream." I know there's no one perfect roadmap to simplifying your life, but Zen Habits has compiled a list that represents a pretty good start: The Simple Living Manifesto, a list of ideas that should help anyone trying to lead a simpler life.

Starting on 8/15/11, I and my fellow contributors will be working through the ideas in the Simple Living Manifesto one day at a time for a period of 72 days. This is where we will write about our experiences, whether we're successful, we fail, or we find that the day's idea is impossible. Expect honesty, and feel free to participate. I've created an open Facebook event where people can sign up to join the 72 Ideas in 72 Days project. If you're interested in blogging along or having your relevant posts linked, email me at christa d terry at gmail.